Retired general touts ‘leadership’ credentials, not Hispanic heritage

Retired Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez doesn’t pigeonhole himself as an Hispanic candidate for the U.S. Senate seat that veteran Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison will yield to retirement next year.

Ret. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez

Sanchez will portray himself as a leader turned off by white-hot partisan politics and as someone who understands the struggles of lower and middle-income Texans. His humble upbringing in Rio Grande City certainly will make it easier for him to connect with Hispanic Texans.

The big question: Will Latinos connect with him?

It’s been nearly 18 years since a Democrat won a statewide seat in Texas. Hispanics have not voted in a proportion to their share of the state’s population. The best chance and perhaps the only chance for Sanchez to win the U.S. Senate seat is for him to excite Texas Hispanics into voting.

“Clearly that could be the key for victory,” Sanchez says.

He will have to generate a large and enthusiastic grassroots effort by talking to people in their neighborhoods and “being able to relate to them on a very real basis in their environment.”

Sanchez commanded the coalition ground forces in Iraq eight years ago and led the military effort resulting in the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Hussein’s two sons.

Sanchez is building his U.S. Senate campaign that has been fairly low key as he raises money and develops his platform positions. Sanchez, who lives in San Antonio, will eventually open a campaign headquarters in the Alamo City.

He spoke to a Hispanic Scholarship Consortium leadership conference Tuesday afternoon in Austin.

He mentioned “leadership” multiple times as he chronicled his 33-year-long military career and as he surveyed the political landscape. He sees excessive partisanship and petty politics and misplaced loyalties.

And he doesn’t see enough leaders “who truly understand the struggles of our people and who can represent all Americans – not just their particular economic group. Especially, we need leaders who can represent middle and lower (income) classes.”

Conference participants applauded Sanchez.

The retired military leader makes an intriguing candidate, state Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said afterward.

“His story is as story of excellence within the Latino community – someone who rose from dirt-poverty up to the highest levels in the U.S. military,” Castro said. “That’s a quintessential American story that the Latino Community can be proud of but really that every American can be proud of. So I do think that he has a strong story to share, and getting folks to be enthusiastic about it is just a matter of getting out there and meeting with them and getting this message together and coming across well.”

It’s too soon to tell whether Sanchez will draw a major challenge for the Democratic Party’s nomination next year. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst leads a multi-candidate pack on the GOP side.

Sanchez doesn’t appear fazed by the likelihood that he will face a better known and much better financed Republican.

“The key thing is that I’m not in this race for political power. I’m a patriot that wants to serve, that sees a need in this great county, this great state, to represent the average Texan, the average American and to be able to achieve some consensus for the problems that we are facing.”

Solving the nation’s financial problems will require some sacrifice from everyone, he says.

Sanchez grew up in poverty in Rio Grande City.

“I stood in welfare lines as a young child, so I understand the pain. I understand the pressures. I understand, very clearly, the lack of hope.”

He objects to “the assault on education in drawing down our economic opportunity.”

An elementary school in his small border town carries the name of the retired general.